Keyword Match Types

What are keyword match types?

Keyword match types determine how closely a search has to match a keyword in Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising for your ad to be shown. There are three:

• Broad match: the ad can show for searches related to the meaning of the keyword, including ones that contain none of its words. Google uses signals such as the landing page and other keywords in the ad group to interpret relevance.
• Phrase match: the search must include the meaning of the keyword; additional words before or after are possible.
• Exact match: the search must have the same meaning or intent as the keyword.

All three also match “close variants” such as plurals, misspellings and synonyms, so even exact match is no longer strictly exact.

Google increasingly recommends broad match combined with Smart Bidding, and AI Max for Search extends matching even further. This can find valuable new searches, but it needs reliable conversion tracking and active control: review the search terms report regularly and add negative keywords.

For international accounts, match types interact with language: broad match in one language may pick up loosely related searches, and literal translations of exact match keywords often miss how people really search in that market. Base keyword lists on local keyword research, not translation, and start new markets with a tighter mix of exact and phrase match until you have data.